Parking charges for Clitheroe and Pendle hospitals

Faiza Afzaal

New parking charges are being introduced at two East Lancashire community hospitals.

From Saturday, July 1st, patients, staff and visitors to Clitheroe and Pendle community hospitals will need secure payment to park.

The revised pricing aims to be as fair and equitable as possible for all car park users. Income from car parking charges is used to cover the cost of providing parking and running costs, which includes maintenance and upkeep. This enables ELHT to protect funds set aside for patient care.

James Maguire, Divisional General Manager for Estates and Facilities at ELHT said: “We know that increasing parking charges is never popular. However, there are increasing pressures on the NHS to do more with less money. The Trust has taken carefully considered decisions to ensure we make the best use of our resources. Implementing parking charges on our community sites also ensures fair and equitable parking and charges for all car park users.”

Parking charges for Clitheroe and Pendle community hospitals are the same as Royal Blackburn and Burnley General teaching hospitals. The charging periods and costs are £1.90 for three hours rising to a maximum of £3.50 for up to 24 hours parking, which are among the lowest in the country.

James added: “We have installed clearly signposted payment machines and additional income raised will be re-invested in the Trust to benefit our patients and staff.

"We understand that some patients have to attend hospital regularly, and this can be costly. In line with our value of 'Putting Patients First', we have developed a number of sympathetic concessions. These are open to patients who are undergoing treatments for cancer or attending regular appointments, as well as carers.